In China, concerns about food safety are so serious that residents at times take to the green spaces between tenements to plant gardens. Others farm on windowsills and balconies, or use specialized e-commerce services to track down safe vegetables and meats.

These habits led Lennon Tsai to start a company that supplies all the hydroponics equipment necessary for a would-be urban farmer to get started on an indoor garden. While trying to sell equipment to a new Chinese middle class concerned about the rampant contamination of Chinaâs soil and water, Mr. Tsai by chance came upon a secondary market in America.

âOne of my U.S. customers bought my product and grew marijuana at his home and sent me the photo. I was really stunned; I was surprised our product could be used to grow marijuana,” Mr. Tsai said in a recent interview. “Only later did I realize itâs a big market.â

With the help of cheap manufacturing, Mr. Tsaiâs company, iGrow, is now aiming to build its presence in the United States by selling inexpensive grow kits. His company, based in Hangzhou, China, is an example of a new generation of Chinese start-ups that are more flexible, internationally aware and globally ambitious than their forebears.

In the interview, Mr. Tsai discusses the difficulties in selling his plan to his staff and why he founded his company.

Q.

What is the background of iGrow?

A.

I was born in a very rural environment. I grew up in a remote village, which had a very good environment surrounded by many flowers and plants. As a kid, I would plant stuff with adults; I planted rice, flowers and other types of agricultural crops. But with Chinaâs industrialization, the place where I grew up now had been stripped of green plants. Also gone are the sentiments toward nature. So I have always had this wish or dream â is it possible for agriculture to get rid of the constraints of soil?

Q.

How has the younger generation taken to your products?

A.

Most of our customers are between 20 and 40 years old. The older generation is more used to things grown in soil; many put plants on their balcony and fertilize them every day, whereas young people donât have time to do so, and they donât have the knowledge. Young people donât know how to grow plants.

We have some educational work to do, and it takes time to educate people about the idea of soil-free planting. For now, we will start with flowers. For flowers, you can actually see how they turn out. Many girls love flowers and green plants, but they are having a hard time nurturing them. Many arenât even able to keep alive cactus, which thrive in deserts.

Q.

How did you realize there was a different market for hydroponics?

A.

I have some relatives living in California. The planting of marijuana is legal there under certain conditions. I didnât pay much attention to such a market then. I thought marijuana had nothing to do with us. Then one of my U.S. customers bought my product and grew marijuana at his home and sent me the photo. I was really stunned; I was surprised our product could be used to grow marijuana. Only later did I realize that itâs a big market. I later learned that many people would like to grow marijuana at their homes. I conducted some research on marijuana in the United States. Some states have already legalized it, and others are considering it. In some states, medical use of marijuana is legal. Many U.S. customers have shown a willingness to cooperate, which reinforces my belief that we can achieve something really big in the market.

People began to use equipment to grow marijuana toward the end of last year, early this year in California. Itâs been a while. Itâs just I didnât pay much attention in the beginning, and later it became a strategy for our company overseas.

Q.

In China, the use of marijuana is far less common, and it faces serious stigmas. Did you face any opposition from your staff about the plan?

A.

There were some concerns with our R and D team; they had some worries. Many believed marijuana is a bad thing. Itâs not like growing flowers or vegetables, which are perceived as very healthy. They believed marijuana is unhealthy and harmful to human beings. Thatâs why some people were concerned about this, because they hoped the products we undertake would be good for human health and purification of indoor air. There were some arguments. But later, we managed to quell their concerns. We had undertaken some work. One is that we used a video from the National Geographic Channel that introduced what marijuana is, its status in the United States, why the government there has permitted its use and why it has legalized it in some states. This is to let people know that marijuana is not what people thought.

Q.

How did your peers respond to the idea?

A.

A classmate of mine is doing his Ph.D. in biology at Yale, and he told me I must pay attention to the marijuana market in the United States. I said why? He said itâs very likely the market will be bigger than your flower market in China. Marijuana is our priority in the States, but we also do vanilla and mint, things widely used in Western food.

Q.

Do you think your company is an indication of how Chinese start-ups are becoming more internationally minded?

A.

My mother and my sister are all in Spain. Many of friends live in the States, and many of my classmates are thinking of immigrating there. Many were educated in the United States. We are eager to learn about the information overseas, and we want to learn about the business part. Ten years ago, the past generation did not have a lot of ideas about the world, but ours is more international, and we want to expand our business in mainland China to the overseas market. We want to build a global business community. I am just one person from our generation, and maybe I represent some hopes of our generation, namely that we want people overseas to participate in our business and we want them to be able to enjoy our products.